A Phoenix's Rebirth
by werelegend
Summary: The Story of Ron and Hermione from the very beginnings, to their first day at Hogwarts, to their marriage and their death. Love isn't simple and there is no reason why theirs should be so straightforward. Life is tough. Read and Review Please.
1. Arthur Dilemma

Arthur Weasley is no stranger to unpredictable mood swings, dangerous trick questions and abnormal food cravings, especially after having witnessed his beloved wife carry of his children and give birth to them. He also knows that his life balances on a thin line when his wife's stomach grows immensely. So when his wife announced to him, after a carefully planned dinner by herself, that she was yes, indeed, once again pregnant, he knew better than to groan in frustration at having to earn money for yet another mouth, go through 9 months of well-worth hell again, and most importantly, he groaned at how impossible it is to rely on contraceptive potions and spells. So, instead, well-armed with experience, he jumped up from his dining chair and ran over to his wife and hugged her tightly, while showering her with passionate kisses. He promised himself that he would no longer allow his swimmers to venture into the void of his wife. Taking care of 5 children was hard enough, especially with one on the way. Oh the wonders of sexual reproduction, not to mention of labour.

If there is one thing men fear more than vasectomies, it is labour. One's view of life is never the same after those agonizing hours of labour. Well, though his wife might disagree, those 9 months are always totally worth it. Which was why, during those 9 months, Arthur Weasley was going to do everything in his power to ensure that Molly was being happy all the time and that any potential risk of her getting upset was away. Though, it didn't help that he was at work for most of the day and when he came back, he was too tired and stressed out to listen to her complain about her weight, her appearance and how the kids were doing nothing to ease her suffering. If he was in a really good mood, he would sit at the table, slowly feeding his mouth with food whilst nodding his head to whatever she was saying. And after he was done consuming his meal, he would take her in his arms, comforting her in her time of need.

But on the not so good days, he would all together ignore her during his meal, and simply and hopefully retreat back to the comfort of his bed. However, this usually wasn't the case.

Molly, being the stubborn and selectively blind person she is, would ignore all the noticeable signs that he didn't want to talk or simply wasn't in the mood for listening to complaining, and instead take his unresponsiveness as a sign that he didn't love her anymore and one thing would lead to another, which would barrel out of proportion and eventually result in Molly being angry for two days, him on the living room couch, massaging his head with ice or murtlap essence. And all this could be traced back to his fault. After all, it was in his bloody genes that his little buddies could escape contraception and somehow fertilize his wife's egg. Not that he minded having a great, big, loving family. But oh boy, did he wish that waiting for baby to be delivered didn't have to take 9 painful months. Why can't it be that you create a fertilized egg and the baby pops out. No swollen breasts, morning sickness, weird food cravings, and most importantly, no unpredictable horrible food swings.

But Arthur Weasley knew one thing. That despite, his continuous complaints and whines about pregnancy, giving birth to new life, a son or daughter, make you ignore all the hardships. It's all worth it. But whatever. For now, he would have to wait until the damn baby was delivered. And that meant another 3 months. Bloody hell.

...

...

...

10:39...

...

Wait, a minute...

10:39. Bloody hell, oh, bloody hell. Bloody Friggin Hell. He was 9 minutes late. An hour in Molly's eye. Oh crap.

...

Shit. Shit, shit, shit...SHIT.

He snatched his cloak up, and swiftly told Perkins, his colleague that "if Molly ever happened to asks, you held me up." Perkins dreamily nodded before focusing his attention back on the spell he was trying to fix. Arthur then quickly grabbing his wand, quickly apparated back home, hoping that Molly was somewhere napping or just simply too busy to glance at the clocks hanging around the house or the small, antique clock attached to a leather strap that had a metal buckle which was unfortunately wrapped around her thin wrist. Why the hell did he get her a watch on her 32nd birthday? He silently cursed himself for not getting her something less dangerous.

Shit, she was already dressed, gripping an umbrella very tightly whist tapping her foot rapidly. Molly glared at him with increasing anger as he tentatively stepped forward.

"Hi dear" he said happily, forcing a smile on his face.

She didn't reply, but instead, narrowed her eyes dangerously. _Not a good sign_.

"Come on, love, take my hand and we can apparate to the hospital." _Shit_. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he cringed. Fudge. How stupid of him. Obviously, she couldn't apparate when she was already so fragile. Idiot. Before he could say sorry, he received a loud thwack on his thigh. Obviously, being the unpredictable woman she was, Molly had opted for pain instead of noise.

Attempting to rectify his mistake, he rephrased his sentence. "Stay here, love, let me get the car." He glanced at her, hoping for a nod or a sing. Nothing.

It seemed the day wasn't getting any better. Being the idiot he was, he sat waiting in the driver's seat for her to get inside when on the other hand was waiting for him to help her inside the car. That didn't help appease her anger. Nor did it help that they were already going to be late for their 11:00 appointment. Not a bit. And as soon, as Molly was in the privacy of the car, all hell broke loose.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I can't believe you forgot. Of all things you forget. You forget the medical appointment with the doctor _concerning _your 6th child, Arthur. 6th child. You would think that after these five kids, you would remember things. Remember the simples of things." Her angry voice cut through the silence, leaving him nervous.

"Molly, d-d-dearie, I just lost track of time." he said as he made a hopeless attempt in trying to justify the situation.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really." He replied, trying his hardest to lighten up the situation and by doing so, reduce the severity of his punishment by giving her the most adorable, forgivable, trustworthy smile he could offer.

"I was on a case after case, y'know, how busy it gets in the department and then, one of the heads just had to talk to me about another assignment. Honey, you know how it gets at work, right?" he explained, looking deep into her eyes.

"Of course, I do" she replied sweetly. Thank God, she's no longer angry. Hah! I am safe. He grinned inwardly.

He continued driving, smiling to himself and was about to turn on the radio, when she said.

"I know, Arthur, honey, I got it but how is it that when I checked with Perkins about what took you so long to get here to pick me up for a very simple medical appointment, he said that he, himself, Timothy Perkins held you." _Oh Bloody Hell._ "And yet, you told me that you were late because of some cases and the heads held you up. And I never though that Perkins was the head of any department. And If i recall, _you _are the head of the Muggle Artifacts Department, and it should be you holding up Perkins up, not the other way around." He didn't dare glance to the right of him, for fear he might die under her judgmental, wrathful glare.

"Molly, I-I-I can e-e-xplain..."

"I really don't know which story to believe in. My loving, trusting husband who would never tell me lies or my husband's colleague who I've met only a few times? I really can't decide." Molly's voice rang questionably.

I am such an idiot. How could he forget? That he told Perkins what to tell his wife. Blood idiot.

_Shit._

"What was that, Arthur?" _God, she was cruel._

"Nothing, Molly. You see, dear. Perkins was there there with me with the head, we were discussing the assignment together. After all, we are such good colleagues during work. Y'know, the whole principle the government wants it employers to abide by: "with cooperation, comes progression." y'know, just follwing the government." he hopelessly spewed.

"Really, now, Arthur? Then how is it that when I happened to glance a the clock that keeps track of our family's actions and position, it said that yours was, hmmm...daydreaming. Daydreaming, huh, Arthur? I never knew that daydreaming constituted as working or cooperating. I don't think that daydreaming during _work_hours was something the government supported. Now, is it, Arthur?"

_Damn_. Why in the world did he have to buy the clock for her? Oh, that's right. It was for our family, so that we could tell if one of us was in danger. Damn you-know-who. Why can't he die soon or drop dead of his own accord? It's hard enough working on muggle artifacts, and yet we still have to be aware and scared 24 hours a day, just in case he drops by the house to murder all of us. Great, now he has to live in fear of both his wife and you-know-who. Still, the risk increased since he was an Order member, people who tried to locate and track you-know-who's movement and location.

"Well, Molly, cause you see, the reason that I was daydreaming was because I am so busy and stressed out with the amount of reports we've been getting. And it's not helping that you-know-who keeps hunting people everywhere he goes and..."

"By the way, honey, look out there, the traffic's really bad. And we could get to St. Mungo's a lot faster if we just press this button that I installed, y'know. It would make things go a little faster. Please, Molly? Honey?" He broke off when he saw tears forming in her eyes. _Not a good sign._ Bloody hell, what did he do this time?

"Molly, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he questioned, wishing and hoping that it didn't have anything to do with him.

His wife bawled harder. "You don't care about me. You don't care about your family. You don't even care about your child. You don't love me anymore. You care about your muggle hobbies more than you care about your family and your wife. You spend so much time with all the muggle artifacts, that you can't even remember to pick up your wife for a medical appointment. You can't even tell me the truth. _You lied!_" she cried. A fresh wave of tears came.

"You even lied to me about the silliest of things. Daydreaming_._" _Breathe. It's just the hormones talking. Just the ruddy hormones. Just the hormones. _More tears, "You don't even love me, I bet tat you were daydreaming about one of your girlfriends. I bet that you'll one day, leave me to be with those slutty, whoreish girls."

_WHAT? _ Hormones, hormones.

"I bet that's why you couldn't even remember to pick me up for a medical appointment, because you were too busy, too preoccupied with shagging one of your girlfriends. That's why_." _And with that, Molly Weasley left her husband open-mouthed and boiling with anger, stretched to the breaking point.

"What the _bloody _hell are you on about? I am not shagging girlfriends, Molly. How could you fucking think of that? I fucking love you. You now the reason that I was daydreaming?" He shouted, ignoring her constant remark of "language", while trying to focus on driving.

"Why I was daydreaming during work hours? Why i lost track of time and forgot briefly, oh bloody briefly, about picking you up for a medical appointment? It was because I was busy thinking about our family which _you _and _I _created. How far we've gone through all the pregnancies and labors and even survived you-know-who. The time we've spent as a family and the time we've spent creating a family. And yet, you think and you _doubt _my love and care for our family? You would even question my loyalty, when all I think about during the day is about you ad yor family. I love our baby, our unborn child. How can you _even think for a second _that I don't care about the baby. I love it, and I am so glad it will join our growing family. I'm so happy that it's part of us, of our family. Don't you see? I bloody love you." He gasped, collecting oxygen after that long rant, that is, before he continued.

"And the reason I didn't tell you, that I was just simply daydreaming was because you've been so moody and unpredictable. I don't want to upset you or get you angry. I want you to be happy. I want our family to be happy and satisfied. The thing I want the most now is that, my unborn child gets delivered into a happy environment. I don't want to mess our family up." _There, done! Hopefully, she understands it._

Now, any normal, understanding women would have stopped saying anything and the smile and kiss Arthur Weasley because what he just said, minus the swearing, was both sweet and honest. But obviously, Molly Weasley was not one of those normal women or wives. No, Molly Rebecca Weasley, was the exception to the rule. Though, if she wasn't pregnant, she might've been the rule.

She glared at Arthur, and said, "Oh, Arthur, who ever said it was _**your **_child," and with that, she slammed open the door and slammed it back closed and walked up to an abandoned department store and shouted something at a dummy, before walking straight through the window.

_Bloody Hell._


	2. Realizing What's Been Said

While Molly Rebecca Weasley was rushing to meet her doctor and actually attend her medical appointment, she was also trying to justify what came out of her mouth just a few moments ago. As she reached the ward, and took a seat, she insisted that it was the hormones talking and was one of those moments where her mind and heart didn't work well together. She just hoped that Arthur believed her, after all, pregnancy was a trying time for a family.

In the meantime........

Arthur Neil Weasley sat in the car while replaying the conversation that just happened, over and over again in his head. He just sat in the driver's eat, with his head back and just ignoring the honks and horns of impatient cars behind him,

_This can't be happening. My sixth child isn't mine? My beloved wife had or __is __having an affair? What if all our children aren't mine?_

**No...that can't be true. They all have freckles, red hair, blue eyes with the exception of BIll and Percy. They have Molly's grey eyes. **

_Wait, maybe they aren't my children._

**No, they have to be my children. They look so much like me. They have to be my children.**

_Maybe Molly's lying. Maybe it's the hormones and the unpredictable mood swings. Maybe it was just in the heat of the fight. What she said couldn't possible be true. Or could it?_

_**I shouldn't doubt my wife. It wouldn't classify as being a good husband or father.**_

Why not? She doubted you as a husband and she thought that you were out shagging a bunch of scarlet women. She doubted your loyalty, your trust and love for her. So, why can't you do the same?

**Just because she doubts you, doesn't mean you have to do the same back to her? It's all about being a human, well, maybe not a human, but it's just to do with being a calm and reasonable person.**

_But why should I be reasonable? I see, no reason of that. There is a very big possibility that I have no children, no sons, and that my wife, is having an affair. Maybe not even a possibility, maybe it's a fool._

And while Arthur Weasley was debating with the angel and devil of his heart, had unconsciously parked the car, and had entered St. Mungo's. Oh the joy of sleepwalking.

After finding out where the appointment was, since he had conveniently forgot where he was supposed to meet the doctor, and walking to the ward, he outstretched his arm, when he stopped and pulled his hand back.

What would he say? He didn't want to hurt her, and yet he didn't want to simply forgive her or forget her statement. How could he act? How would she respond? Plus, he didn't want to embarrass her infront of the entire hospital staff and her healer.

But maybe, just maybe, for once, Arthur Weasley could stand up for himself, because after all, this was something that could destroy his entire life. And once, he found the truth, nothing would ever be the same. It could either be good or bad. His entire life crushed if he found out that none of his children weren't his and that his wife was cheating. But if none of it was true, then still his trust concerning his wife would either be completely gone or lost. And thing would never be the same. THis could all result in the family being torn apart. That was not something he would have wanted.

Bu knowing the truth is probably better than not knowing the truth. It's not good to be kept in the dark and not knowing the real truth behind your family, and behind your life.

However, Arthur Weasley actually considered doing two things, the first one being that he could demand the truth from his wife and then just ignore it, and hope that somewhere in the future, he could forget it and move on with h is life and just act that everything is fine. Or he could just ignore Molly's word and pretend that the conversation never happened, and move on with his life, ignoring the feeling of suspicion that the children weren't his.

Unbeknownst to Arthur for the time being, there was another possible option that could make things better, but it wasn't 100% possible or ensured. That option was that he could find out the sheer truth of his family and then life and fate will work out the rest for him. This was only revealed to Arthur twenty seconds later.

WIth a thousand questions running in his head, and still unsure of what to do and how he would act, he took a deep breath, allowing the oxygen to enter his lungs, then heart where it would help ease his nerves and calm his rising heart rate. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them, and then outstretched his arm once more and touched the door knob, only registering for a brief moment how cold the knob was to his touch, and turned it and slowly swung the door open.


	3. Those Left Alone

Molly Weasley's body twitced when she heard the door click open and heard the creaks of a wood door against a squeaky, tile floor. She glanced at the newcomer. Her heart rate quickened and her nerves were not a waste as they increased tenfold when she discovered it was her husband, Arthur Neil Weasley. She expected a loud outburst from him, which would probably embarrass her infron of her healer who would in turn, feel terribly awkward. That was not the situation she wanted to be in right now, but somewhere deep down in her heart, she knew that she deserved it, after all, those words _**did**_ come from her mouth.

Molly Weasley braced for the worst, and by doing so, unconsciously breathed in and balled up her fists. Her entire body tensed, and her mind obviously expected the worst.

All of these actions were all part of the reason why Molly Weasley was so surprised and shocked out of her mind when her husband didn't even look at her or touch her, or say anything to her, let alone shout at her. Instead, his actions confused her. Arthur Weasley ignored his wife completely and took a seat by the healer's desk and watched the whole medical check-up. He made no slight indication he knew she was watching him, or that he knew that she was confused. It was like he stopped caring.

And _**that**_ had struck home. She suddenly couldn't breathe. Something was lodged deep in her throat, and it became dry. Her heart suddenly felt so heavy as if it had become metallic and was unbearable to carry. Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she tried to hold it in, she couldn't simple let go now. Not infront of her healer. But she couldn't stop.

Her eyes grew wet and one by one, tears spilt over her eyes and slowly flowed down her weathered face. The tears went by their own path and reminded her of how much she had gone through and would she throw it all away just like that. For once, after being two steps ahead of everyone else and knowing what to do for every single second of every single minute of every single day, Molly Weasley didn't know what to do. She was scared. She had never been in a position like this before. The tears came rushing, as the dam broke unleashing both sadness and regret.

Regret for what she had said. Regret what she had done. Regret for her past.

Her healer remained bewiledered over this strange turn of events. His patient had gone from preoccupied with thoughts to quitely crying. Her husband was in the room but he had done nothing so far and it wasn't his, the healer's, position to comfort his patient but noticing how Molly Weasley's tears had become apparent, her sobs slightly louder, her air intake becoming both louder and the gasps becoming more and more frequent as she tried to ease the blockage in her throat, he saw that as she gasped for air more annd began to hyperventilate, she was in fact, dangering the baby's condition more since her heart and lungs weren't getting enough oxygen. He considered helping her ease her pain and help her to breathe easier but it was also Arthur's job, but so far Arthur had remained stationary.

A fresh wave of tears came. Molly had never felt so alone, no one to comfort her, no one to console her and ease her regrest. It was her fault, she knew that, but she was so vulnerable now and there was not a single person around her to be there for her. She was truly alone. She had thrown her entire life away. She was alone.

More tears. She gripped her hands tighter, imaging that, by clasping her hands together and the fingers wedged closely together, the left hand was her husband's hand letting her know that she wasn't alone and he was there for her. But imagining it wasn't enough. Imagination would never become reality, and that made her cry harer, and she tried to swallow her pain but her throat was sos dry that she was having difficult to breathe. She released her hands and let them fall to the side of the hospital bed.

…

That was when she felt a big, rough and warm hand slip into hers and hold on tightly. It was a familiar hand, letting her know that _**he**_ was indeed here for her, despite everything that happened.

Molly's heart slowed down, her throat eased and she became calm once more. Tears still dripping, she turned her head to look up to her husband whose hands was now gripping hers tightly. His face betrayed no emotion, but it was in those blue eyes that told her everything she needed to know.

In it was mixed pain and sadness but also the love he had for her and the trust he was trying to let go, but some part of him wanted to still trust her.

Molly Weasley would always remember his eyes being brighter, slightly wet, his hair less but still flaming red and his lips thin and still, frowning ever the slightest bit. His thumb caressed her hand slowly and lovingly. More tears came, she took her other hand and brought it together and leant her head against his chest while softly crying out "I'm sorry" over and over again.

Arthur brought his unused hand and with it, gripped his wife's shoulder, rubbing soothingly while replying to her cries, "I know, and it's okay". There would be a time when he would seek the truth but not now. His wife needed him, and he her.

The healer had disappeared from the room, leaving the two alone, but they themselves were not aware of that. They loved each other. They were there for each other. They needed each other. And that was all that mattered for now.

**Author's note: Please review. I'm sorry that it isn't exactly Ron and Hermione yet but it is going to be a slow story. So please review, anything would be useful. Just review. Click "review this story/chapter". Please, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.**


End file.
